Fort Lewis chaplain critically hurt in Iraq

[flamingyouth]

FORT LEWIS, Wash. -- A Roman Catholic priest from Fort Lewis, believed to be the first military chaplain wounded in the war in Iraq, is in critical but stable condition after being hurt by a roadside bomb, a spokesman for Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., said Tuesday.

The Rev. Tim Vakoc, 44, suffered significant injuries to his head and left eye, spokesman Jim Stueve told The Associated Press.
Doctors have been keeping him in a chemically induced coma to allow his brain to heal.

Vakoc is believed to be the first military chaplain wounded in Iraq, officials at the U.S. Central Command said.

Vakoc, a native of Minnesota, was wounded May 30. He had said Mass for soldiers out in the field, and he and his assistant, Spc. Nathan Copas, were returning to the Mosul Airfield when their convoy was attacked. Copas was not wounded.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/aplocal_story.asp?category=6420&slug=WA%20Chaplain%20Wounded

[saigon68]

1. "BRING EM ON" cried the AWOL CHIMPANZEE

chemically induced coma

Not a good prospect for recovery---glad we are winning tho---